For my summer holiday, I wanted to go to Disneyland in August. I now notice that Mercury will be retrograde for most of that month. I also notice that last year's delays with volcanic ash over Europe happened during Mercury retrograde periods. I am not sure whether to go ahead and book. What would you advise? Angeline

Dear Angeline, I often travel under a retrograde Mercury. It doesn't worry me. If you're really worried, avoid the 'stations of Mercury', around August 3 and August 27. But remember, Mercury retrograde doesn't always delay travel. Sometimes, it affects commerce or communication.

Dear Jonathan,
I can discern who is calling me on the telephone by what I perceive as the difference in the 'electric charge in the air'. To me, this subtly affects the way the phone actually sounds when it rings. Sometimes when I go right by a street lamp, the light will suddenly go out. This can be disconcerting because it typically happens when I'm in a bad mood. So, I remedy this by sending out positive 'Love' energy to people I've been unkind to in my past. Then the street lamp almost always comes right back on! William

Hello Jonathan,
In Japan, it is said that if you wish upon a shooting star three times, your wish will be granted. Do we receive some kind of energy from stars? When I look up at stars in the sky, somehow I feel comforted. Kazuko

Dear Kazuko,
Me too. And why not? You and I are made of carbon. And that's stardust!

Hello Jonathan, When I just think of someone unintentionally, sometimes I get a phone call from them... or I run into them. Is this a prediction or telepathy? Aki

Dear Jonathan,
You haven't said much about the uprisings we have been witnessing around the world. Why are they happening now? And what's going to happen next in Libya? Thanks, Carlos

Dear Carlos,
Once a decade, we get an opposition of Jupiter and Saturn and this alignment is always associated with regime change somewhere in the world. The current astrological situation is being intensified by the cosmic T-square and the sudden burst of intense solar activity. Tense events may continue in Libya for some while but by the end of the month, there will be a decisive development.

I was looking forward to the New Moon in my sign for all its supposed positive benefit. Instead I was stressed out that day and ended up drinking half a bottle of whisky and a few beers, going out and blowing all my money and feeling depressed. This doesn't give me much confidence in astrology. Steve

Dear Steve,
The Moon made you go and get drunk? Don't underestimate the power of your own free will! If you now resolve to pull yourself
together instead of giving up, that New Moon may yet prove to have been of positive benefit.

Later this month, Jupiter and Saturn will complete one of their rare, once-a-decade oppositions. Already, we are seeing classic symptoms. Regimes collapsing. Old orders retreating. Essential commodity costs rocketing. Think of the sky as a giant guitar. Imagine Saturn up at the top of the fretboard where the tuning peg sits, Jupiter down on the sounding board near the 'bridge'. Think of the tense opposition between them as a tightly wound guitar string. This week, Mercury (the communication planet) comes close to Jupiter, effectively 'plucking' that string, giving us all plenty to talk about!

Later this month, Jupiter and Saturn will complete one of their rare, once-a-decade oppositions. Already, we are seeing classic symptoms. Regimes collapsing. Old orders retreating. Essential commodity costs rocketing. Think of the sky as a giant guitar. Imagine Saturn up at the top of the fretboard where the tuning peg sits, Jupiter down on the sounding board near the 'bridge'. Think of the tense opposition between them as a tightly wound guitar string. This week, Mercury (the communication planet) comes close to Jupiter, effectively 'plucking' that string, giving us all plenty to talk about!